Death At Multnomah Falls Ruled A Suicide

The death of a missing Virginia woman was ruled a suicide Monday a day after her body was recovered from the pond below Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge.

The woman was identified as Christine Debra Dreyer, 40, who had been missing since Feb. 25. She had been staying with friends in the Portland suburb of Gresham, said Phil Farrell, Multnomah County sheriff’s spokesman.

Dreyer died from head and chest injuries sustained after she jumped from the top of the 620-foot falls, Farrell said.

The woman’s body might have been caught in turbulence under the falls for days before visitors saw it Sunday, said Terry Sparks, Multnomah County deputy medical examiner.

Deputies responding to a report of a body in the water said that Forest Service employees at the falls believed it was a mannequin because a dummy had been thrown into the pool recently as a prank.

The falls are a popular tourist and sightseeing stop along Interstate 84 in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.

Corbett firefighters recovered the body in an area where rock was loosened by flooding last month.